Sooo, staring at these capacitors up close and getting all hot and bothered might cause them thermal stress, thus causing the failure we are so keen to avoid?
Think I’ll just leave the laptop case closed for now.
1 Like
I for one will consider it the limited edition “Signature” series L14s. Hopefully it bodes well for resale value 
.
2 Likes
I have difficulty agreeing with that. They would then just get accused of spin.
I think the intent was for a single cohesive message as opposed to the scattered message experienced in this event.
Personally I have mixed feelings on the PR front.
I do very much appreciate the more casual community involvement, especially that of @dcz ; but I do think that some topics , such as this one, would benefit from a more official stance that I would prefer be separate from the more casual community involvement.
3 Likes
But that’s basically what Nicole did. I think I can take that as the official statement.
You sure can 
It’s as official as ‘official’ can be.
I am the one responsible for the whole L14 development, I am personally in direct contact with the engineers, I wrote the specification and I oversaw, reviewed and checked the whole development on all levels.
The change made is a fix to the USB (type-A and type-C) power regulators, which are located in this area of the board to make the USB power supply more stable and compliant. Things like that creep up pretty much every time you develop new hardware - and to that end please also keep in mind that this main board of the Librem 14 is a full custom design. It is not a modified ODM design, this is full custom. Things like that are never perfect the first time you do it. In fact the PCB version we have now in the L14 is the third iteration - you should have seen the first two With the Librem 5 we had almost a dozen PCB versions until we reached what is now being shipped. It’s mostly detail changes but necessary details. Engineering, especially in electronics, is very often an iterative process, many things are hard to predict before you actually put it in hardware. Tools have become a lot better in the recent years so that you can simulate a lot of things now but not everything. And then of course there is human error - remember the problems we had with the early Dogwood devices? Turned out to be too small ground pads on the PCB for the main voltage regulator (PMIC). This was something that could only get fixed by a new PCB spin (which was finally resolved in Evergreen then). The issue found in the L14, well, was discovered very late because it is so minor and we were able to address it by the rework now done on all boards (which is a tedious work to do BTW). The solder joints are triple checked and I am very sure that these will not cause any issue during the life time of the product.
Cheers
nicole
28 Likes
Thanks Nicole for the info.
Reading all comments (the good, the bad and the ugly), it seems very hard to form an opinion on this issue, but your posts are always very informative.
I’m super excited waiting for my L14 (just ordered a week ago). Hopefully it is shipped in June, as announced on the shop (=
3 Likes
Thank you for being respectful,it seems from your reply that even if you dont quote and respond to every individual question or concern which would be difficult to say the least… it feels like you have read them and given a more technical answer and what you are responsible for. The type of answer i atleast felt that i needed.
I remain a little unsure but while i have one order bought and delivered some 3 years ago,and am happy with it, I dont have to make up my mind and refund my L14 order just to spite you (purism) or some individual forum member. I hope that,and based on your reply feel some level of assurance that the hotfix will be re-iteraded upon and that by the time i come up in the que i may well be more than satisfied with regards to any concerns, and if not then i have options then as per support.
Regardless, thank you @nicole.faerber for without hesitation getting straight to business and strictly business (the business of engineering and development that is).
It also makes me feel like there may be an update to come in its own thread at some point by you or Kyle or someone else.
I am sorry and a bit irritated that many have said that those of us with concerns or questions are haters. I know you have responded and kyle has responded too more than once on a range of questions since the late 2020 start of the thread,and that the tone of discussion only really took a difficult turn in the last few days ,to some degree due to member on member agression (i am not innocent,but tried to stay on point with just raising my questions and concerns,and disengage if i started getting angry and wanting to write something just to score some internet pointless point).
The delays,from the start,were not an issue and still remain a non issue for me. I know that big companies use their local high level employees and megacorp money to grease the wheels officially and unofficially,due to the effects on multiple supply chains. I think the only critcism i gave was a suggestion to not announce thing based on the word of a supplier,since a day before an expected delivery they can push it back with no new ETA , leaving you to deal with upset customers.
In closing to my rambling remarks this was never about hate ,for me, not for purism or its employees nor any member that did not share my question or concerns or those of others.
But thank you for giving a sincere reply, with details, and not dismissing me or anyone else with questions or concerns raised in the last few days as haters. I have neither hate nor an ax to grind. I am happy that this makes me a little more re-assured.
Sincerely,
Jon Kovach.
9 Likes
So, I’ve emailed support again asking about my shipment.
I was given the response that my July 12, 2020 pre-order (4-cell battery/not using 2nd M.2) will arrive in late May. I asked about whether this would be a hotfixed version or not, and haven’t heard any response.
Without any further information, and assuming this isn’t a canned response, I’m doubting Purism is going to get through all of the preorders in May… I’m hoping I’m wrong…
3 Likes
Somehow, I think I’ve read this book before… 
So I’m guessing you already confirmed shipping address then? And thinking they will be ignoring all further questions concerning the hot fix, as it has been explained to their satisfaction. 
But, if the only issue, was the one fixed by the hot fix, which they have already done, then why aren’t shipments still going out? Or shall we stay tuned for the next exciting episode of, Guess what happened now??? 
2 Likes
@Bass20 yes sir! Address and hardware was confirmed. I got the confirmation from Purism back on April 8th.
Not to stir the pot again, but this is exhausting. I’m not far off from contacting Visa at this point.
2 Likes
L14 arrived today, pleased with the build quality. Checked under the hood and I have the hotfix. It’s secured under some nice fabric tape and it’s clearly not going anywhere. I suppose if it were knocked loose I could remove the loose bits and still have a functioning laptop.
11 Likes
Thank you for posting, that helps! Please post more first impressions if/when you can
Second person?
1 Like
Anyone else getting any shipping address verification emails? Shipping emails?
1 Like
Howdy, long time lurker, first time poster! Ordered July 13th 2020. Got a shipping confirmation email at the end of March and a reply after confirming said shipping info that I would get tracking info when it finally ships. No tracking info yet. Hopefully this message can help people see where they are located on this terrible conga line…
1 Like
I’m a bit fussy, could you send us some screenshots?
1 Like
You might be right about the need to hire a good PR person, but my take about transparency is that Purism staff is honestly doing their best.
Whenever I’ve seen a pressing issue that Purism needs to comment on, like this hotfix mess, staff will eventually give a satisfactory answer in the forums. Sure, some people might not read all the comments here, but in my opinion this is better than the alternative - making an announcement about every single question that needs answering.
While a PR person would help make their answers more cohesive and address consumer concerns more clearly, I personally like getting answers from the actual engineers involved in the project, not a media person. This also goes hand in hand with open source culture.
After the hotfix was discovered in a customer’s board, it seems that they are dealing with it reasonably well:
-
Nicole gave a good explanation on why the hotfix was necessary. She also explains that the hotfix is not critical to the correct functioning of the device.
-
Kyle offered 1 year of additional warranty for any issues caused by the fix.
-
A customer reported that after contacting support, Purism offered to ship their laptop specifically from a batch without the hotfix. We’re still waiting for the non-hotfixed boards to appear and see how that plays out.
-
Another customer reported that the hotfix is well secured under some nice fabric tape, which eliminates my last concern about the hotfix: it coming loose and shorting something out.
Is it pretty to look at? No. Specially when you take a photo and zoom at it. But people will get over it. And if you really don’t want to have an ugly board, just contact support and they will fix you up with a pretty one.
Building a custom board from scratch is not an easy task for a company like Purism. Supporting a project like this, specially pre-order, comes at a risk.
Also, it is worth noting not only what is being talked about, but also what is not being talked about. We haven’t heard anything negative from customers who got the L14 apart from the hotfix issue.
6 Likes
I totally agree. I think Purism could help themselves immensely by not releasing information on Friday afternoons, especially if that info has the potential to “explode” when it might be difficult to investigate and respond to promptly (i.e. over the weekend).
One of my points was Purism just shipping these laptpps with this fix and then waiting…for what? No criticism? It was always going to get attention and inevitable bad press.
I don’t get the connection between a media person not being compatible with open source culture. Is having someone between you and the devs inherently bad?
I’d suggest that Purism have done their reputation irreparable damage with large numbers of consumers and potential consumers because of their amateur approach to genuine problems and probable naivety with regard to fallout. Please note, that I loathe any attempt at spin, but I’m all for things presented clearly in laymen’s language, with empathy and in a timely manner. Getting ahead of problems rather than letting them unravel I’d suggest is preferable to the multiple debacles that Purism have presided over and fuelled the vitriol towards Purism on places like reddit. Its not good to have people out there shitbagging your business under any circumstances.
Purism’s reputation is damaged. Even with me. If they, or anybody, think there won’t be more problems they’re dreaming. If Purism think they’ve done well managing these, they’re also dreaming. Purism need to re-evaluate this part of their business where the problems that befall them are beyond their control and will continue to come.
3 Likes